Champions of Courage: Vanessa Williams
Updated: Monday, February 18 2013, 12:39 PM EST
Every February FOX45 highlights special people in Maryland who are making a difference in their community. The Champions of Courage spotlight turns to Vanessa Williams and her summer program, Project Kind, that’s providing hope for hundreds of kids in East Baltimore.
In the heart of East Baltimore sits one of the city’s most prestigious Catholic Schools surrounded by blight, drugs, and poverty. The Institute of Notre Dame has shaped the lives of many young women since 1847.
School officials have been inspiring the community from within for centuries. Father Joe Muth, Pastor, said “For IND to be in the middle of East Baltimore, where we’re surrounded by so much negativity and we are so proud that we give life and we promote life.”
The students at IND serve as mentors to young girls from four other schools, Cardinal Shehan School, Mother Seton Academy, St. James and John School, and St. Casimir. Students are assigned a big sister who will help to build self-esteem, offer homework help, and a time to laugh.
Project Kind began, by chance, ten years ago as a way for teens to participate in an after-school program.
Behind the scenes of Project kind is a very special woman, a minister at IND, Vanessa Williams. She devotes days, nights, weekends, and holidays to IND. Her passion for community service began at a young age, and is still infectious.
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